[f. TAPER a. + -NESS.] The condition of being taper; tapering shape.
1730. Savery, in Phil. Trans., XXXVI. 304. I apprehend if any Loadstone should be wrought very Tapering from one Pole to the other, that the Equinoctial could not be precisely in the Middle thereof, but according to what Degree of Taperness it is wrought to, be removed nearer to the great End.
1741. Compl. Family-Piece, II. ii. (ed. 3), 330. Fine Sprouts … that will answer for Taperness to one another.
1818. Keats, Endymion, I. 783. Fold A rose-leaf round thy finger’s taperness, And soothe thy lips.
1871. Figure Training, 76. A waist of remarkable taperness.
